Fidel Castro appears near tears over Chavez in Cuban TV report

HAVANA (Reuters) - Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro looked downcast and near tears as he listened to a song about his friend and ally, the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, in a news report aired on Cuban state television on Thursday.

The unusual report, nine minutes in length on a news program, was the first public glimpse of the impact of Chavez' death last month on the 86-year-old Castro, whom the Venezuelan socialist openly revered and considered his political father and mentor.